High speed operator Thalys is to introduce a new fares structure and onboard service proposition on September 12. The current Comfort 1 and Comfort 2 classes of travel are to be replaced with Standard, Comfort and Premium, improving flexibility and increasing the proportion of discounted fares on offer from 25% to 30%.

An agreement to develop a long-distance variant of the successful Lastochka electric multiple-unit family has been reached between Russian Railways and the Urals Locomotive joint venture of Sinara and Siemens.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment Sharon Dijksma has approved plans by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and ProRail to reroute 4·5 km of the harbour railway serving Europoort to avoid the Caland Bridge.

Stadler says its expansion into new geographical markets and industry sectors paid off in 2016, when it received a ‘record-breaking’ number of orders with a total value of SFr4·9bn, more than double the 2015 figure.

The landmark high speed station at Napoli Afragola, designed by the late Zaha Hadid, was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on June 6, ahead of the start of regular services on June 11.

The first eight locomotives from the Nordic version of the Vectron family entered revenue service with VR Group on May 31, after being approved for operation by safety agency Trafi and formally handed over by Siemens on May 26. The first revenue trip was a freight service from Tampere to Vuosaari Harbour in Helsinki.

On show at the 27th IAF track technology exhibition in Münster is the first of a fleet of vehicles for maintaining the LGV Sud Est Atlantique high speed line between Tours and Bordeaux which opens in July.

Quality, capacity and simplicity are the three core themes at the heart of the infrastructure management strategy being implemented by DB Netz, Chairman Frank Sennhenn explained at the opening ceremony for the IAF track technology show in Münster on May 30.

Alstom announced on May 24 that it had received an order worth €50m from Hohenzollerische Landesbahn for the supply of 10 Coradia Lint 54 diesel multiple-units. Scheduled for delivery by May 2019, they will operate on the routes from Ulm to Aalen, Langnau and Munderkingen.

The weekend of May 20-21 saw two bridges replaced on the Bologna – Rimini line at Prati and Sabbioso as part of infrastructure manager RFI’s ongoing route modernisation programme on the Adriatic Corridor.